Over the last few years digital multimedia content has become increasingly available to the public. High-performance home computers, the ever increasing availability of broadband data-networks, efficient data compression methods and high capacity storage media have all played a role in the increasing access to and demand for multimedia content among individual users as well as in the corporate sector. More importantly for purposes of the instant invention, the increase in demand for, and usage of, digital audio works has been especially noticeable. Today audio content is almost exclusively created, stored and transferred in digital form.
When a digital audio content collection has reached a certain size, a number of problems manifest themselves. The same problems are encountered by a user who is trying to manage his or her private audio collection or by a music editor who seeks to create new musical content. The main problem is that as the size of the music collection grows, the user increasingly loses the ability to keep track of its content.
The conventional approach to solving this problem is by using a database, wherein a user's audio collection is stored in a content database designed for that purpose. Each item stored in that database typically has some minimal amount of metadata associated with it (e.g., song title, performer, style, etc.) that describes the content. A computer-based database allows a user to quickly locate and select/playback a particular song or content item.
However, a database-based approach to manage a large number of digital content items is most useful to the user who has intimate knowledge of his or her digital audio collection and is able to identify with some particularity the digital item which he or she wants to listen to or edit. Thus, the database approach provides the user with help regarding the classification of the digital content but may not be the best tool for exploring its contents.
This approach does not provide easy access to the digital content, where “easy access” means that the user can quickly and easily find and select content stored in the database.
What is needed is a system and method where the entirety of a digital audio collection is made easily accessible. Additionally, this system should organize digital content according to its inherent properties. Furthermore, it would be preferably if the system were to allow a user to navigate its file structure using familiar techniques. Finally, it would be of particular advantage if this approach were usable both by a user who is interested in multimedia editing as well as a user who is trying to manage a large digital music database.
Heretofore, as is well known in the media editing industry, there has been a need for an invention to address and solve the disadvantages of prior art methods. Accordingly it should now be recognized, as was recognized by the present inventors, that there exists, and has existed for some time, a very real need for a system and method that would address and solve the above-described problems.
Before proceeding to a description of the present invention, however, it should be noted and remembered that the description of the invention which follows, together with the accompanying drawings, should not be construed as limiting the invention to the examples (or preferred embodiments) shown and described. This is so because those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains will be able to devise other forms of the invention within the ambit of the appended claims.